Minnesota

question everything

(50,348 posts) Wed May 21, 2025, 03:20 PM May 21

Minneapolis will adhere to police reform consent decree despite DOJ's dismissal plan, officials say

Minneapolis officials say the city will adhere to a consent decree ordering expansive reforms to its police force despite the federal government's plan to end its investigation into the department.

"Here is the bottom line: We're doing it anyway," Mayor Jacob Frey said Wednesday. "We will comply with every sentence of every paragraph of the 169-page consent decree that we signed this year."

The Minneapolis City Council approved the consent decree on Jan. 6 and subsequently filed it in federal court. The agreement said the Minneapolis Police Department would require its officers to "promote the sanctity of human life as the highest priority in their activities," and must not allow race, gender or ethnicity to "influence any decision to use force, including the amount or type of force used."

A federal judge needed to approve that consent decree before it went it effect. However, the DOJ requested and was granted multiple stays of court proceedings.

The U.S. Department of Justice said the consent decrees proposed by the Biden administration sought to subject the Minneapolis police to sweeping arguments that went beyond accusations of unconstitutional conduct and would have led to "years of micromanagement."

https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/mpls-reaction-doj-dismisses-lawsuit-against-mpd/

6 replies

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Minneapolis will adhere to police reform consent decree despite DOJ's dismissal plan, officials say (Original Post) question everything May 21 OP

I wouldn't be surprised if the Trump admin Shambala May 21 #1

Fortunately, there is also a state consent decree that Trump can't do a thing about nt dflprincess May 21 #4

Uh huh. OldBaldy1701E May 21 #2

DOJ complaining about moniss May 21 #3

There's still trouble in paradise according to this April 8 article "Davis Moturi reflects on failed pleas ... progree May 22 #5

Sawchak not competent to stand trial. Remains in custody. Mpls city council ordered a review. April 3 article progree May 22 #6

Shambala

(188 posts)

1. I wouldn't be surprised if the Trump admin

Reply to question everything (Original post)

Wed May 21, 2025, 03:56 PM

May 21

sued Minneapolis to prevent them from implementing the consent decree.

dflprincess

(28,830 posts)

4. Fortunately, there is also a state consent decree that Trump can't do a thing about nt

Reply to Shambala (Reply #1)

Wed May 21, 2025, 09:53 PM

May 21

OldBaldy1701E

(7,960 posts)

2. Uh huh.

Reply to question everything (Original post)

Wed May 21, 2025, 03:57 PM

May 21

https://i.postimg.cc/mZ7jF7XX/temp-Imaged-DWQ7-K.avif

moniss

(7,352 posts)

3. DOJ complaining about

Reply to question everything (Original post)

Wed May 21, 2025, 06:28 PM

May 21

"micro-management" while they engage in "micro-management" of universities and businesses.

progree

(11,949 posts)

5. There's still trouble in paradise according to this April 8 article "Davis Moturi reflects on failed pleas ...

Reply to question everything (Original post)

Thu May 22, 2025, 02:45 AM

May 22

Davis Moturi reflects on failed pleas to Minneapolis police that led to him being shot in his own yard, MPR, 4/8/25
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/04/08/davis-moturi-reflects-on-being-shot-by-neighbor-john-sawchak-in-minneapolis
The above link is no longer good -- the article is gone and the "play" button doesn't work. This archive.org one does work:

https://web.archive.org/web/20250411051646/https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/04/08/davis-moturi-reflects-on-being-shot-by-neighbor-john-sawchak-in-minneapolis

It's my guess that his neighbor was especially irked that Moturi has a white wife.

It is an extremely very long article. I was going to post it at the time here, but I felt guilty as hell for not attempting a summary of this extremely very long article. It is a harrowing read. So here are a few exceprts from the beginning to give an idea about what the article is about:

The week before, that neighbor — a white man named John Sawchak — had brandished a large knife from his own upstairs window next door, where he often tracked Moturi. Sawchak had screamed racial slurs at Moturi, who is Black, threatening to kill him.

It began about a year ago, soon after Moturi and his wife Caroline moved into the small house on Grand Avenue in the Lyndale neighborhood of Minneapolis. . . .

. . . Too anxious to sleep, Moturi re-lived it, instead. He could still hear Sawchak bang pots and pans, then blast air horns outside their bedroom window. He recalled the feces shoved in his mail slot, felt the terror of Sawchak encroaching on him with a long gardening tool and screaming that the neighborhood had become “ghetto” ever since he moved in.

Moturi imagined he must be living on an island — far from a police station where he could get any help. Except, that wasn’t the case. The 5th Precinct police station was one mile away.

He had been calling the police, pleading with them to do something for a year now, but they said they couldn’t do anything if Sawchak didn’t come outside. One officer suggested the couple move out, which Moturi later learned was what a Black family who previously lived in their house did, facing similar threats and no relief from the police.

I have not seen any follow up to this. EVERY NIGHT I monitor three local news sites: WCCO, KSTP, and MPR, and I have been for years and years.

progree

(11,949 posts)

6. Sawchak not competent to stand trial. Remains in custody. Mpls city council ordered a review. April 3 article

Reply to progree (Reply #5)

Thu May 22, 2025, 04:37 AM

May 22

Minneapolis man charged with attempted murder for shooting neighbor will not stand trial after second competency hearing, WCCO, 4/3/25 https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minneapolis-neighbor-shooting-incompetency-hearing-update/

So Moturi wasn't the only person complaining. I added bolding in the below

A Minneapolis man accused of shooting his neighbor after a months-long dispute will not stand trial for now, according to court documents filed Wednesday. The decision comes after a second doctor found John Sawchak incompetent to stand trial.

Sawchak faces second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, stalking and harassment charges. His neighbor, Davis Moturi, had made at least 19 police reports against Sawchak for a range of incidents, including vandalism and threats of physical assault.

The attorney's office says Sawchak will remain in custody, and prosecution will resume if he is later found to be competent.

Court filings show neighbors filed restraining orders against him; in one case, a mother of three wrote that she was "really afraid that something terrible might happen before something is done."

The Minneapolis City Council ordered an independent review of the incident, which is expected to be completed by June.

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